D&D 2E AD&D Monstrous Compendium 2

[R_J_K75]

I miss the old 2e style monster stat blocks and all the habitat and ecology stuff. It was like reading an encyclopedia entry. I like how the combat stuff is streamlined in 5e without having to line hunt for details, but there's something about the old ones I prefer even now.

Me too. When they shortened the entries starting with 3.0, I hated it. For the most part I like the streamlined rules, but I wish theyd bring back the longer monster entries in the 2E format. I never understood why they got rid of it to begin with. It added so much to a creature when building an adventure and encounters, there was so much more to work with. Now everything just looks like a punching bag, it must be hard starting out as a DM in 5E nowadays.

 

[Nebulous]

Me too. When they shortened the entries starting with 3.0, I hated it. For the most part I like the streamlined rules, but I wish theyd bring back the longer monster entries in the 2E format. I never understood why they got rid of it to begin with. It added so much to a creature when building an adventure and encounters, there was so much more to work with. Now everything just looks like a punching bag, it must be hard starting out as a DM in 5E nowadays.

Yeah, it was a wealth of information that was actually fun to read. The blocks are just so much more utilitarian now, and lost much of the nuance. There's got to be a way to blend the two. In 6e lol

 

[ccs]

Exactly right.

Yes, they belong to the sub-species known as "page filler".

I mean, do you really need special official rules for adding zebra stripes to a centaur?
Or for describing them as part gnome/dwarf/halfling?

 

[Nebulous]

Yes, they belong to the sub-species known as "page filler".

I mean, do you really need special official rules for adding zebra stripes to a centaur?
Or for describing them as part gnome/dwarf/halfling?

You'd be surprised by how many pages were also filled by different kinds of mundane fish. But at least the ecologies are kinda fun to read.

Habitat/Society: Floating eyes silently patrol their oceans,
looking for small creatures they can hypnotize and eat. They
are mild and non-aggressive, keeping in schools of a dozen or
fewer. They abandon their young at birth and if lacking food
they will eat the small floating eyes.

 

[R_J_K75]

Yeah, it was a wealth of information that was actually fun to read. The blocks are just so much more utilitarian now, and lost much of the nuance. There's got to be a way to blend the two. In 6e lol

Think ever since they've been trying to get as many monsters into one book. I used to create entire adventures with monsters based entirely on what wasn't in the stat blocks except for maybe the #appearing, frequency and activity cycle. Many times there wasn't even a combat or it took a long time for one to start.

 

[R_J_K75]

Habitat/Society: Floating eyes silently patrol their oceans,
looking for small creatures they can hypnotize and eat. They
are mild and non-aggressive, keeping in schools of a dozen or
fewer. They abandon their young at birth and if lacking food
they will eat the small floating eyes.

Almost makes me want to cry as Im sure we'll never see anything like this in a MM ever again. At first glance it seems like itd be useless but adding this to an encounter adds so much more depth than, "its an Eye, quick roll initiative"!

 

[ccs]

You'd be surprised by how many pages were also filled by different kinds of mundane fish.

No, not really. I was there in the mid-late 90s. I saw the local shops shelves filled with pages & pages of pointlessness courtesy of TSR.

 

[Nebulous]

Almost makes me want to cry as Im sure we'll never see anything like this in a MM ever again. At first glance it seems like itd be useless but adding this to an encounter adds so much more depth than, "its an Eye, quick roll initiative"!

No, I don't think we will see it again. And it can't all just be nostalgia, it is some very creative world building they included. I wonder what a 16 year old newbie DM would think of reading these old stat blocks? Boring filler or informative fluff? I don't know.

 

[R_J_K75]

No, I don't think we will see it again. And it can't all just be nostalgia, it is some very creative world building they included. I wonder what a 16 year old newbie DM would think of reading these old stat blocks? Boring filler or informative fluff? I don't know.

I think if someone is into D&D they'd appreciate the old style stat blocks to spark imagination and creativity, unless their the type of person that plays just for something to do and hang out with friends.

 

[Nebulous]

I think if someone is into D&D they'd appreciate the old style stat blocks to spark imagination and creativity, unless their the type of person that plays just for something to do and hang out with friends.

You're probably right.